Stan couldn’t wait to retire; it’s all he talked about. After 42 years of working, he’d had enough. It was time to play golf, go fishing, and travel. He and his wife, Janet, had a list of national parks they wanted to see. Each time we got together, whether in client meetings or casual chats at the range, the conversation inevitably came around to retirement.

“I can’t wait,” he’d say. “I’ve had enough. There’s more to life than work.”

My cautions didn’t matter. Stan was resolute. He reminded me he’d worked for three different companies, relocated across the country multiple times, and spent decades chasing corporate carrots.

“I’m tired,” he said. “It’s time to enjoy life.”

But they weren’t ready.

Stan and Janet had saved. They dutifully contributed to their 401(k)s, paid down their home, managed spending, and even set a little aside. I ran financial projections based on their budgets, stress-tested their plan, and shared my concerns. Financially, they might have been okay if nothing went awry. 

But they weren’t hearing it. Stan wanted to retire, and Janet wanted to travel. They were retirement age, Social Security would start as soon as they applied, and, based on their calculations, it was going to be okay.

But okay for what? 

Contemporary retirement planning tends to focus almost entirely on money. It ignores two equally important factors: health and quality of life. A person can only travel so much. After a while, even leisure becomes repetitive. The excitement fades. The days lose structure. Boredom and disengagement gradually creep in, and life becomes stale. 

The idea that a person should stop working at 65 is outdated, artificial, and increasingly harmful. Retirement at 65 isn’t a biological necessity or a timeless goal; it's a political construct — a throwback — from an era when people died younger, work was more physically demanding, and retirement lasted only a few years. None of those assumptions hold true anymore.

Today, retirements span 25 to 30 years or more. In some cases, a retiree may live in retirement longer than they worked. That reality poses a difficult but obvious question: Did they retire too soon?

Financial resilience may be one of the most overlooked benefits of continuing to work beyond traditional retirement age. This isn’t about earning a paycheck; it’s about creating options. Even a modest income in retirement can significantly reduce pressure on an investment portfolio. Extra income, at the right time, may carry one through periods of market volatility.

Continuing to work can delay or coordinate Social Security benefits more strategically, increasing lifetime income while preserving flexibility. In a 2025 T. Rowe Price survey, nearly half of retirees who continued working cited financial necessity as their primary motivation, not to create luxuries, but to add stability and sustainability.

The real value of postretirement work isn’t income replacement. It keeps savings and investments from carrying all the risk and turns a plan that merely works on paper into one that can survive the challenges of real life.

Equally as important, but far less discussed, is the impact of work on a person’s mental and physical health. When done intentionally, work is beneficial to both mind and body.

Continued engagement slows cognitive decline, improves memory, and aids executive function. Work lowers rates of isolation and depression. Work creates structure. It enforces routine. It demands mental engagement in ways that passive leisure does not. It also maintains social connection and accountability, two things that quietly disappear for many retirees. Roughly 45% of retirees who continue working say they do so for social, emotional, or personal fulfillment, according to the survey. That’s not a coincidence, it’s how we’re wired.

Purpose may be the most underestimated and least discussed benefit for remaining in the work force.

A person doesn’t miss having a job title. They miss being involved. They miss providing solutions, teaching others, and taking on new challenges. Work provides a reason to get up in the morning, a sense of usefulness, and a way to contribute to something bigger than oneself.

Research consistently shows that purpose-driven work later in life is linked to higher life satisfaction, better emotional health, and stronger social ties. In fact, roughly 41% of people working — or planning to work — in retirement say they do so primarily for personal fulfillment, according to a report by Empower, a financial services company. Leisure without purpose eventually feels empty. Purpose, even when paired with light or flexible work, sustains quality of life.

Retirement shouldn’t mean stopping. It should mean choosing.

A healthy life-work model looks like less work, not no work. It allows for meaningful contribution, income as a tool rather than a crutch, and shared experiences. Working past 65 isn’t a failure of planning. It’s complete planning. 

The real risk isn’t working too long. It’s retiring too soon and then discovering too late that money alone was never enough.